The Curse of Hester Gardens

by Tamika Thompson

We Need to Talk about Kevin as if written by Jason Reynolds and Tananarive Due meets Model Home by Rivers Solomon in an innovative twist on the haunted house about a mother desperate to protect her sons from the twin specters of gun violence and otherworldly menace in their public housing project.

Nona McKinley raised three boys in the Hester Gardens section of Medford, Michigan, an impoverished community divided by those who follow their faith in God and those who turn to crime to survive. With her drug dealer husband behind bars and her eldest son shot to death at eighteen, Nona has devoted herself to ensuring her other children escape their brother’s fate.

Her second son Marcus is on the right path. He's a valedictorian heading to an Ivy League school. He can get out.

But then, strange things start happening to Nona and other mysterious footsteps are heard when she’s alone, people have phantom encounters in the streets, unattended appliances go off at all hours. Even more concerning is the state of Nona’s living sons. Her youngest, Lance, is hanging around with a bad crowd, and Marcus becomes moody and secretive. Sometimes he even seems to act like a different person entirely.

Nona has her secrets too. Her affair with the married church pastor has been weighing on her conscience, but that’s not the only guilt haunting her. She fears that someone—or something— is seeking revenge for an act she made in a moment of weakness to protect her family. And now everyone in Hester Gardens must pay the price...

Genres: Horror, Thriller, Fiction, Paranormal, Adult, Horror Thriller

434 pages, Kindle Edition

Expected publication March 31, 2026

Reviews

[Jamie]

DNF'ing @ 35%. It's not you, book, it's me. This is a well-written novel but it's depressing … so, so depressing. There's certainly some supernatural horror to be found within these pages, but so far most of the narrative has been focused on the horrors of life in the projects — poverty and gun violence are constant themes. And, while this is a thought-provoking story, it's just too much for me at present moment. With everything that's currently going on in the United States, I kind of need to leave the social horror in real life for a bit. I'd like to come back to this one at some point, but for now I'm going to go read a light, fluffy novel about four women who find friendship and romance in a medieval Italian castle. Thompson is an extremely talented writer, however, so if you're less emotionally exhausted than I am, definitely consider giving The Curse of Hester Gardens a read.

Many thanks to NetGalley and Erewhon Books for providing me with an advance copy of this book to review. Its expected publication date is March 31, 2026.

[Adam Allen · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is an incredible book. It’s brilliant, it’s horrifying, it’s devastating, this should be a literary event. Finding a book like this is why I read in the first place. The story of a mother trying to navigate raising three sons in a housing project haunted both figuratively and literally by the violence and history there. This book packs such an emotional punch while being extremely readable and entertaining at the same time. By the final act, I spent the entire time reading in tears from the emotional truths it contains, and how infuriating it is that these things are in fact true.

[Christi Nogle · Rating 5 out of 5]

A bold and astonishing debut: expertly wrought, expansive and complex, tragic and redemptive. A heartbreaking story of a mother, a family, and an entire community struggling with supernatural dangers as well as the all-too-real threats of gun violence and systemic oppression. Poignant, chilling, and immersive.

[Nicole · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.75 stars

Not quite what I expected, but I still enjoyed the story and characters. I would have preferred more of an emphasis on the supernatural side of the story, but I found the sort of social commentary engaging and horrific in a different way.

[Emily C. C. · Rating 5 out of 5]

Brutal, heartbreaking, and deeply moving. Loved this.

[Haley Newlin · Rating 5 out of 5]

My favorite read of 2026 so far

The Curse of Hester Gardens is one of those books that makes it feel impossible to pick up your next read. At least not until you’ve let this story of poverty, gun violence, a mother’s ferocity and love, curses and ghosts really sink in.

The Curse of Hester Gardens is for readers who enjoyed The Only Good Indians by Stephen Graham Jones, The Between or The Reformatory by Tananarive Due, and The Spite House by Johnny Compton, and other stories that pair supernatural horror with social realism. It’s part haunted house, part possession, and a whole lot of thoughtful commentary on social and economic hierarchies and the epidemic of gun violence in the United States.

I hope to see this book on every ballot come awards season. It is so important and intelligent. And I’m already looking forward to Tamika Thompson’s next release. Horror fans, this is a must-read.

Setting: Project/Community Housing in Michigan, Hester Gardens

Themes: the terror of real-world violence (not certain of a future, constantly afraid of losing loved ones), generational trauma, poverty and systemic oppression, the ferocity of a mother’s loved/protecting family

Sub genre: Supernatural horror

Details I appreciated:

- the stove light constantly igniting and ticking, a continuous and unnerving dread came with this

- Hester Gardens as a symbolic prison & shows what happens when pain affecting communities goes unaddressed

- gun violence and hidden, violent truths as a thing that sort of takes over or possesses a person

- Nona’s dream house she sees on the bus. Hopeful and shows desperation for safety and normalcy for her and her sons, the desperation to escape the oppressive situation everyone in Hester Gardens has been forced into through social and historical forces

- the sound of legs dragging across the apartment floor 👀

- this had some great scares and was super emotional, too

[Jonna Langston · Rating 4 out of 5]

I found it hard for this book to hold my attention which is why it took me so long to read. It was at times slow and it wasn’t until Part 4 that it really started to pick up. Overall, not a bad book, just not one that I was drawn in to.

[Courtney · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really appreciated the blend of supernatural and real horror. Adding the author to the list. Advance copy from NetGalley but will purchase on release day for the home library.

[Tulip_OnTheTBR · Rating 5 out of 5]

More Than Just A Ghost Story: It's Real, Raw, and Chilling 😱

I don’t know what possessed me (see what I did there? 😉) to spend my Friday and Saturday night consuming this novel but I did... knowing good and well I don't like being scared. I don't pay nobody to scare me, yet this was an ARC, that I signed up for, to be scared for free. WTF. 😳 All the while looking down for "I don't know what" when I walked past my bed, peeking over my shoulder at the corners in my room, wondering if a curse was on me. 😳 Not to mention the butterflies I felt in my stomach every time I thought I was being watched. CREEEEPPPYYYYY!! 😫

Let me give this disclaimer: I am not familiar with "horror" talk as I am new to the genre AND this is my first full-length horror novel, but my life will never be the same. This book delivered on many levels, starting with the fact that I learned so much about living in a public housing project, more about Black history, and conjuring 😳. I even walked away with a book to add to my TBR, Soledad Brother. Reading one book and being introduced to another is such a flex! 💪🏽

Listen, can Nona McKinley be my AUNTIE?!! How could you not love this woman?! The evolution of her character was one of the best I have seen to-date! I don't know if it can be described as moving forward, or in reverse, but however you decide to describe it, I fucking loved it! PERIODT! 🥰 The neighborhood called her "Sister McKinley" and she definitely deserved that title! Let me see how I can describe Nona: she is fiercely protective of her sons, has a heart of gold, loves tha' Lord, and the rest you will have to discover when you read the book. I cannot and will not spoil it for you, but Nona will surprise you from beginning to end. I want a Nona! 😭

Tamika Thompson did a phenomenal job with this and she is a great storyteller! It was my first read by her and I simply loved her writing style. The way she described loss, grief, and poverty pierced my soul; my heart was literally aching as I read her words. Talk about powerful? Wow! Her words just flowed off the page and were so easy to consume. ❣️

She also did a wonderful job depicting what it's like to grow up in poverty, surrounded by violence, at every turn. This is a real thing that needs to be talked about more often; the conditions that humans live in, the constant anxiety and fear, the need to be quiet to protect your life, and feeling like you are part of a broken system that doesn't give two shits about you. It's real, what these people experienced in the public housing projects of Hester Gardens and Dempsey Woods, set in Medford, MI. This is happening right now, every day. We need more replicas of Harlan (Nona's nephew) in the world.

The Aftermath 🌷
This was a 5-star read for me simply because of the way it made me feel. The Curse of Hester Gardens altered me in ways I didn't even know horror could. It was scary, not gonna lie, and I was locked in through and through, but the author set the bar pretty high for me when it comes to this genre. The characters had faces, personalities, expressions, and feelings. I was invested and in the room with Nona, Marcus, and Lance. I wanted to love on Mother Lincoln, and I wanted to give Pastor a piece of my mind! The pages rose from the book and played out in my head just like a movie. 👩🏽‍🍳💋

I didn't just read this story; I lived in Hester Gardens for the weekend. I finished this book feeling like these were my people, my community, and I wanted to know what happened next for them all... I mean, the ones who were left... 😕

Publication Date: March 31, 2026

Thank you to NetGalley, Erewhon Books (Kensington Publishing), and Tamika Thompson for the e-ARC in exchange for my honest review.

[Mac S. · Rating 5 out of 5]

Thank you to Kensington Publishing and NetGalley for an advance copy of this book (expected publication date of March 31st, 2026) in exchange for my honest feedback!

In Hester Gardens, a public housing project in Medford, Michigan, those who die at the hand of gang violence don’t move on peacefully, but instead haunt the projects that wronged them both in life and in death.

Nona, a woman of faith, was never dealt an easy hand. She and her husband never planned on staying in the projects permanently. But neither of their jobs paid enough for them to afford a house in a safer neighborhood. She always thought there would be more time. But when her husband is locked up, and her eldest son is senselessly and brutally killed, it is clear she waited too long to escape.

Her middle son, Marcus, is so close to leaving Hester Gardens behind and making a better life for himself. He is valedictorian of his high school class, and heading to an Ivy League school in the fall. So why doesn’t Nona recognize him anymore? He’s more angry than he’s ever been, he’s constantly lying to her and staying out later than agreed upon, and he hardly seems like he’s getting ready to move into his college dorm.

This book is a brutal dissection of system inequities that contribute to gang violence, life in the projects, and what a mother must do to protect her children and put food on the table. And no matter how hard Nona works to build a better life for her children, outside forces always seem to conspire against them, be it the local gangs taunting her middle son and actively recruiting her youngest son, a constant onslaught of shootings in the news, or the presence she is certain is there in the shadows of her home even though her door is always locked.

This is not a light read. This book has graphic descriptions of gun violence, and details so many ways life is stacked against impoverished Black people in America. Nona is resilient, because she has to be. She has nobody else to fall back on. Her parents are dead, her husband is in jail, her neighbors’ kids are in the local gang, the police are more interested in punishing young poor Black men than helping them. This harrowing book shows just how far she must go in order to procure a better life for her children.

The book was incredibly well crafted. Each character was unique and advanced the story. The plot itself was never lagging, and was generally without unnecessary distraction. However, one element was rather… Odd. Based on both the way Vega was written and how the spirits were described, I was sure it was going to be revealed that she herself was a ghost haunting Hester Gardens. Every scene with her only made me more positive. I won’t say I’m disappointed that I was wrong, but many of the details describing her seem so out of place now.

This book tackles racial and economic disparities in America in a poignant and powerful manner. The horror elements do not overshadow the trauma of poverty, but rather highlight it well to make its point.

[Natalie · Rating 4 out of 5]

A few months ago, I was mesmerized by Tananarive Due’s remarkable novel, The Reformatory. The story and its characters left an indelible mark on me. Within an hour of finishing the book, I received an intriguing offer to read and review Tamika Thompson’s novel, The Curse of Hester Gardens. The book’s description piqued my interest, and the coincidence that struck me was that Tananarive Due had written a blurb endorsing this book! My initial curiosity was further fueled by Tananarive’s praise, making it seem like this was a book I was destined to read.

The Curse of Hester Gardens is a gripping horror novel that presents a fresh and innovative twist on the classic haunted house narrative. Set in the impoverished Hester Gardens public housing project in Medford, Michigan, the story follows Nona McKinley, a fiercely protective mother who has already lost her eldest son to gun violence at the tender age of eighteen. With her drug-dealer husband imprisoned, Nona dedicates her life to shielding her remaining two sons—especially her promising second son, Marcus, a valedictorian bound for an Ivy League school—from the same tragic fate that claimed their brother.

This story is intense and exceptionally well-written. As a fan of ghost stories, I found this one to be particularly engrossing. The supernatural elements were so real that I felt my body tense as the characters’ panic seemed to seep off the page and into my own living room. Seriously, I began second-guessing every noise in my house while reading a particularly frightening scene when I was home alone.

Tamika Thompson excels at crafting characters so richly human and flawed that readers can't help but feel profound empathy for their struggles. Nona, the protagonist, is an exceptional woman burdened by grief, pain, and secrets. Hester Gardens itself becomes a character in the book, adding depth and complexity to the narrative. The author skillfully blends supernatural menace with the all-too-real horrors of poverty, crime, and systemic violence, creating a compelling and immersive experience.

Thompson’s storytelling crafts a chilling portrayal of a divided neighborhood and explores how the deepest hauntings often stem from the traumas we inherit and perpetuate. This fusion of supernatural terror and emotional depth makes The Curse of Hester Gardens an unforgettable read, where a mother’s love clashes against both ghostly and earthly evils.

I am immensely grateful to Thompson’s publicist, Leilani Fitzpatrick, for reaching out to me with an extraordinary offer to receive an ARC copy of The Curse of Hester Gardens in exchange for an honest review. I also want to express my sincere gratitude to the publisher, Erewhon Books, for sending me a copy of the book.

I have photos and additional information that I'm unable to include here. It can all be found on my blog, in the link below.
A Book And A Dog

[Ginger of Horror · Rating 5 out of 5]

The Curse of Hester Gardens will haunt you twice: once for the ghosts, and again for the terrible recognition that you’ve been living alongside this horror your whole life without ever really seeing it.

The Curse of Hester Gardens by Tamika Thompson Review: A New Classic of American Gothic

There are haunted houses, and then there are haunted places, those geographical wounds in the American landscape where poverty, violence, and historical neglect have created something far more insidious than any mere ghost. Tamika Thompson’s astonishing debut novel, The Curse of Hester Gardens, arriving March 31, 2026, from Kensington’s Erewhon imprint, understands this distinction with bone-deep clarity. The result is that rarest of literary achievements: a book that delivers both the spine-tingling terrors genre readers crave and the soul-searing social commentary that our moment demands. For me, it stands as a masterpiece of contemporary Gothic horror.

Set in the Hester Gardens public housing project in Medford, Michigan, Thompson’s novel introduces us to Nona McKinley, a mother whose love for her three sons burns with fierce protectiveness. The official synopsis paints a vivid picture of her world: Nona raised her boys in an impoverished community divided between those who follow their faith in God and those who turn to crime to survive. With her drug-dealing husband behind bars and her eldest son shot to death at eighteen, Nona has devoted herself to ensuring her remaining children escape their brother’s fate.

Her second son, Marcus, appears to be on the right path. He is a valedictorian heading to an Ivy League school—he is supposed to be the one who gets out.

But Hester Gardens does not let go so easily. Strange things begin to happen. Mysterious footsteps echo when Nona is alone. People have phantom encounters in the streets. Unattended appliances switch on at all hours. Even more concerning is the state of Nona’s living sons. Her youngest, Lance, starts hanging around with a bad crowd, and Marcus becomes moody and secretive. Sometimes he even seems to act like a completely different person entirely.

The synopsis hints at deeper mysteries: Nona has her secrets, too. Her affair with the married church pastor weighs on her conscience, but that’s not the only guilt haunting her. She fears that someone, or something, is seeking revenge for an act she committed in a moment of weakness to protect her family. As the supernatural menace grows, it becomes clear that everyone in Hester Gardens may be forced to pay the price.


Read the full review here

https://gnofhorror.com/the-curse-of-h...

[OutlawPoet · Rating 4 out of 5]

Okay, so lets start with the comparisons to: Jason Reynolds, Tananarive Due and Rivers Solomon. I mean, if Black writers who talk about racism is your only touchpoint, sure. Otherwise, the book did not remind me of any of those authors. It kind of felt like the editor/publisher just threw a few popular Black names in there without ever actually having read their books. It ABSOLUTELY reminded me of We Need to Talk about Kevin.

In The Curse of Hester Gardens, Tamika Thompson gives us a horror story full of grief, bad decisions, and absolute terror. Rather than your classic haunted house story that takes place in a small town with naive new homeowners feeling out of their elements, the author brings us smack dab into a poverty-stricken housing development. You know how in a normal haunted house story you wonder why the characters don't just leave? Here, they can't. These folks have nothing. Many have no jobs at all. They live in roach-infested homes surrounded by people who will do anything they need to just to survive. Gangs, drugs, it's all there.

The only ways out are prison or death...and neither really gets you out.

Nona, our main character, was stressful for me. She's a mother who is trying everything she can to get her sons out of this development and into a safe space. She's already lost one son due to horrific violence and is terrified for her other children. But...she doesn't make good decisions. Her relationship was the most irritating thing for me. It was all kinds of wrong in so many ways and I just wanted her to pay more attention to her children and all the horrors around her than to...that.

That being said, the book is good. It's tragic - so tragic - and it will make you feel all the bad things. And be warned - the real life horrors in the book just might overshadow the supernatural ones!

A good read.

[Christian Z · Rating 4 out of 5]

It’s hard to dispute that a book centered around gun violence will likely lead to some dark and horrifying places. That being said, this is a very good book.

The Curse of Hester Gardens is set in a low income housing development that is haunted by the ghosts of the past, those who have been killed by acts of senseless violence throughout its history. But the violence is not limited to the past. It continues to live in the present where it spreads from person to person like a disease without a cure.

The main narrative focuses on Nona, a mother of three who is determined to help her sons find a way out of the neighborhood. This is a seemingly insurmountable task due to the severe and unfair obstacles standing in her way. Throughout the book, the reader is challenged to look not only at Nona and her family's current circumstances, but the intersecting societal conditions negatively impacting their environment. Economic inequality, systemic racism and unfettered gun violence all contribute to the real life horrors described in this book.

A supernatural element also runs through the narrative, manifested by the presence of cursed souls who continue to roam the neighborhood, restless and disturbed. Nona and her neighbors experience unsettling encounters with the ghosts, while trying to understand what might bring them to peace.

An added bonus are the multiple references to music scattered throughout the book. I frequently found myself queueing up a song to further inhabit the space of the characters by listening along with them.

This is by no means an easy book to read and digest, but I am happy to recommend it to anyone not afraid to face some of the more bleak realities of our society.

Thanks to NetGalley for providing an advance reading copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

[Tia · Rating 4 out of 5]

I finished The Curse of Hester Gardens and whew… this one did a number on me.

First, this was an ARC from NetGalley, and I went in because it was giving “single mom trying to save her kids but secrets are involved,” which is very much my vibe. And it delivered.

For me, the biggest strength was how immersive this book is. From the prologue, I felt pulled in. By the first chapter, I was already anxious like I was in the apartment with Nona. The writing is descriptive without overdoing it, so everything feels vivid but never slows the story down.

The plot itself? Strong. I was locked in the whole time. You’re following Nona trying to get her sons out of the projects while dealing with this feeling that she’s cursed, and the story balances supernatural horror with real life struggles in a way that really worked for me.

I also really appreciated Nona’s character growth. There’s a moment toward the end where she realizes she doesn’t need a man, and I loved that for her.

The horror was interesting because it starts off very supernatural and genuinely scary, then shifts more into real life horror as the story progresses. I loved the beginning scares. The atmosphere is top tier. But I do wish that same level of fear carried all the way through.

Also, I’m still a little unsure about the villain. It felt like the story pointed in one direction and then shifted, and I don’t know if that fully landed for me.

Emotionally? This book is heavy. I read the trigger warnings, but I still wasn’t prepared for how much it would affect me. It’s not overly graphic, but it hits hard. Like… I don’t think I can reread this. It’s a one time read for me because it genuinely made me sad.

Overall, I really enjoyed it. I was fully invested from beginning to end, even with a few questions left at the end.

[Rhiannon Vaughan · Rating 4 out of 5]

There was a lot to unpack with this story. This was a heavy and depressing read, but an unfortunate reality for some. I think the most haunting thing about this story is that it paints a clear picture of how numb one can become to the tragedy and heartbreak around them when one has suffered enough of it. This book also gives an eye opening view to how some people get themselves into bad situations and/or walks of life that they never would’ve imagined for themselves or their families.

I may not be able to relate from a racial perspective, but I can definitely relate from a grief perspective. When your world seems to end, but the world keeps spinning and everyone is still going about their business, it’s hard to always do the logical or right thing. Initially, I had a hard time feeling sorry for Nona. Life dealt her a horrible hand. I wanted to feel bad for her, but then she would make terrible choices and judge others for doing the same. It’s hard to sympathize for a hypocrite. However, in an ironic twist of events, I sat with that and thought about it. When you’re grieving, you don’t always make the best choices. When you’re avoiding healing from trauma, you also still don’t always make the best choices. Stepping back and dwelling on why she was irritating me, it helped me to care for her character a little more. I was glad to see her character develop throughout the story though. I think once Nona slowly came to terms with things in her life, she started to be more likable.

Also, I won’t say too much about the pastor, but his icky self got a better ending than he deserved.

Thank you to NetGalley, Tamika Thompson, and Kensington Publishing for a copy of this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

[Alicia Ceasar · Rating 5 out of 5]

The Curse of Hester Gardens by Tamika Thompson is a horror book that follows Nona, a mother who witnesses a horrific crime and finds that it continues to haunt her years later.

I don’t even know how to be normal about this book. I feel like once a year, I read a random book that I requested an arc of only to be absolutely blown away. This book got under my skin and made me feel so many emotions. There were times that I had to put it down because I was feeling physically sick. If that doesn’t make a book truly horrific, I don’t know what would.

This book is very emotional. There are a lot of discussions of grief from different characters and how they all react differently to it. There is a supernatural element going on that really ramps up the emotional impact as well. But more than that, this book dives deep into topics like poverty, cycles of violence, motherhood, and racism.

I feel like one of the greatest things this book does is made me sit with my thoughts about a lot of these topics. This book is a little in the longer side which I know won’t work for everyone but for me, that made me sit in this story for longer. It made me become more attached to the characters and it made their actions hit harder. I was genuinely so connected to the stories of the characters in this book and reading about how bad things seemed to keep happening really affected me.

There are some things in this novel that felt like the resonated with me on a personal level because of things that have happened in my own life so I think I had no choice but to love this book.

This is a favorite book of the year. Probably a favorite book of all time and I’m so glad I got to read it.

[Lisa · Rating 5 out of 5]

There are some books you read.
And then there are books you enter.

The Curse of Hester Gardens is the latter.

Tamika Thompson doesn’t simply build a haunted place — she builds a living neighborhood, heavy with history, thick with memory, pulsing with love and fear and quiet endurance. The horror here is not ornamental. It is not spectacle. It rises from what already haunts the margins: poverty that lingers like humidity, gun violence that hums beneath everyday life, grief that moves into a home and refuses to leave.

And yet.

What moved me most was not the darkness. It was the devotion. The fierce, trembling love of a mother navigating forces both visible and unseen. The kind of love that bargains with the universe. The kind that stands guard even when exhausted.

Thompson’s prose feels intentional — lyrical without floating away, grounded without losing poetry. The supernatural elements don’t overshadow the story; they illuminate it. They ask: What do we inherit? What clings to a place? What follows us? And what does it cost to break a cycle?

By the end, I didn’t feel scared in the traditional sense. I felt aware. Of systems. Of spirits. Of the thin veil between what we call curse and what we call circumstance.

This is horror rooted in reality. Horror that understands that the most enduring hauntings are structural. Emotional. Generational.

Hester Gardens may carry shadows — but this novel shines.

[Kate Connell · Rating 4 out of 5]

Hauntings as an allegory for gun violence and guilt. Enjoyed that they showed the different routes the indoctrination/socialization takes.

It was clear the church and Pastor were involved somehow from early on and Nona was blinded by her relationship with the Pastor.

Nona McKinley lives in Hester Gardens with her two sons, trying to keep a close eye on them after her oldest, Kendall, was shot to death at eighteen, while her drug dealer husband serves prison time. Her middle son, Marcus, is on the right path, he is the valedictorian of the local high school and heading to an Ivy League, he can get out. But a fight at his graduation party brings up unanswered questions about his brother's shooting, and Nona's youngest, Lance, is starting to hang out with the Hester Boys, a local gang.

When strange occurrences begin in Hester Gardens, Nona wonders if Kendall is still here somehow. As the occurrences grow more nefarious, she begins to realize that something sinister is at work here, and she may be the only one who can fix it. As Marcus pulls away and becomes increasingly secretive and Nora's affair with her married pastor becomes more serious, Nora becomes convinced that something is seeking revenge for an act she made in a moment of weakness to protect her family. And now everyone in Hester Gardens must pay the price.

Thank you to NetGalley for an eARC of this novel.

[Stacy40pages · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Curse of Hester Gardens by Tamika Thompson. Thanks to @erewhonbooks for the gifted Arc ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Nona is raising her boys in the Hester Gardens public housing projects. Her drug dealing husband is behind bars and her oldest son was just murdered. She is devoting herself to getting her younger sons out but strange things have been happened in the projects.

I really enjoyed this one although it was depressing as hell. Knowing that it was a pretty realistic view of inner city life made it all that more of a hit. I loved Nona and her background story. All she wants to do is protect her three boys, but the environment is fighting against her. On top of that, there’s to addition of a possible curse, which I thought was a great bit of magical realism to throw in. This book was on the longer side, and there were some slower moments but it was important to get to know all the characters in the housing project.

“We have an epidemic of violence, no different than if a virus ran through here. It gets into one of these young men’s bodies, and it takes over everything. The way they walk, talk, think, the people they hang out with, the music they listen to. You can smell the violence on them. It’s like they’re possessed.”

Read if you like:
-Urban fiction
-Look at African American Inner city life
-Mother and sons stories
-Curse tropes

The Curse of Hester Gardens comes out 3/31.

[Sara Everett · Rating 5 out of 5]

Atmospheric horror. This is a haunted house story set in public housing with a large cast. The book adds to the man vs. bear discourse in a holistic way I really liked. It’s also a story of a community of mothers AND how far mothers will go to protect their babies and other mother’s babies. This novel explores complicity and guilt interesting ways too.

LOVED the novel’s hellish Garden of Eden elements. An ever present dead elm. Trash and dead zinnias instead off natural beauty and abundance. But you know what’s the same? Women not being afraid of the forbidden in order to gain knowledge in order to LEAVE the garden forever.

More details:
🔥 set in Michigan
🔥 mentions of James Baldwin, Brown University, and lots of music!
🔥gun violence focus
🔥ghost, possession, conjuring, omens, and haunting featured
🔥I LOVE the flame on the cover because it ties in so well with the book!
🔥lots of reveals in this story, and the anticipation factor was a great part of my reading experience
🦅 I annotated birds, music, and food.

Thank you to @erewhonbooks, @booksparks, and @gosparkpoint for an early copy to review!

[Maria Haskins · Rating 5 out of 5]

I received an advance reading copy of this novel, and it is an utterly compelling and wrenching supernatural tale, set in a public housing project. Thompson gives us not just a haunted house but a haunted neighborhood. In Hester Gardens, the restless spirits of those who died violently linger in homes, streets, and alleyways, haunting, and hurting, the living. I especially loved the main character, Nona, a mom who is deeply flawed, but who tries to keep her sons safe, and eventually also tries to atone for her own actions in the past. Thompson handles the balance between real-world horrors (crime, gun violence, systemic racism, poverty); and the otherworldly menace with compelling skill. There’s an almost Shakespearean tilt to the tragedy that plays out here, in a place where secrets, lies, and ghosts tug and tear at people’s lives.

[Tonia · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book tied in the poverty struggles and faith struggles in the black community. The biggest light of what a mother goes through to keep her children safe. Nona fought tooth and nail to see her boys through the struggles of poverty. After becoming a single mother to three boys, watching her original dreams for them crumble one after another still she kept fighting. She had to look at things differently, go outside of who the root of who she was and question her faith to free her boys. Turning left and right for help from those around her until finally she realized she had to be the one to find them a way out putting them before anything. She had to realize that she was the one that held the power. Interesting read enjoyed the complexities and underlying messages. I do wish the ending was a little different.

[AitziST · Rating 5 out of 5]

(I received this book from the editor and NetGalley in exchange for an honest review)

This was a truly devastating book, a scary tour-de-force where the apparitions might feel scarce but the fear was always present. I was afraid for the future of all the characters from the very beginning, and I did not need any monster to feel like this: it will sound cliché, of course it will, but the reality depicted in the story, the violence, the abandonment, those were the true evils, the unavoidable curse.
And the main character, Nona, was just in the middle of it, trying to stay afloat when everything tried to drown her, both mentally and spiritually. I get chocked up when I think about her fight for the survival of her family, of her sons. This was a really visceral novel that did not shy away from anything, and I loved it for that. A true gem.

[Tee · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a great read overall!

More specifically I found this story to be intense, but in the best way. I was engrossed from the moment I started reading, and it’s clear that the author is a very talented storyteller as this was very well written.

The supernatural elements felt so real and alive, and they literally made me tense up as I was reading, it was that good. Combining that with the exploration of real-life horrors like poverty, crime, and systemic violence created an intriguing and immersive reading experience.

It’s definitely not an easy book to digest because of the hard topics it explores, but I do think people should give it a try if it intrigues them!

Thank you so much to NetGalley and RBmedia for allowing me to listen to the audiobook!

[Katie Milideo · Rating 5 out of 5]

The Curse of Hester Gardens is a haunted house novel that tackles gun violence, poverty, intergenerational trauma, and grief. Tamika Thompson does an incredible job building a vivid world, and cast of unique, emotionally complex characters. It's not a fast paced novel, but rather a slowly building, well crafted narrative that creates a sense of dread that continues through its climax and even after. The Curse of Hester Gardens leaves you heartbroken and angry for the characters in this book, and about the real world injustices it's rooted in.

"The parents had done everything right and they still lost their baby. Well, they'd done everything right except for living in the projects. Poverty was their original sin."

[Jay · Rating 5 out of 5]

Thank you NetGalley, Kensington Books, and Erewhon Books for the eARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.

The Curse of Hester Gardens is a fierce, emotionally resonant gut-punch of a horror debut, reminding us that the most enduring hauntings are not always supernatural.

It's such a special feeling to read a novel and know that it's going to be so important. The Curse of Hester Gardens is a gripping, heartbreaking, and beautifully crafted horror novel that will stay with readers long after the last page. Definitely be mindful of your triggers, but I HIGHLY recommend pre-ordering it before it hits shelves on 3/31/26.

[Carlos Rivera · Rating 5 out of 5]

The tragedy in this story is almost overwhelming, but never to the point where I felt I needed a break. I felt a closeness to Nona and I was right there along all her struggles and her fears and anxieties every step of the way. I felt her frustration and desperation as she battles all the horrors both supernatural, and societal in a run down violent public housing project. Growing up in the hood myself, I could relate to the fears all these characters had on an everyday basis. The writing was exquisite, the journey was captivating, and the ending was absolutely incredible. I think this will join The Reformatory as must-reads for Black authors and will be on many Top 10 Lists of 2026.

[ElphaReads · Rating 5 out of 5]

Thank you to NEtGalley for providing me with an eARC of this novel!

This book is absolutely phenomenal and absolutely devastating. Thompson creates a horror tale that not only had some deeply frightening ghostly moments, but also a searing and evocative screed about racism, poverty, generational trauma, and gun violence and the cycles that are so difficult to escape. I was on the edge of my seat basically the entire time, hoping that it would somehow work out for Nona and her sons, but knowing in my heart that things probably wouldn't. I definitely cried on and off once we were in the last third of the book. It's rough but. important and relevant. Highly recommended.

[Julie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Gut-wrenching, heavy, and often terrifying, this novel is about a haunted housing project where grieving Nona struggles to move past the death of her oldest son Kendall. Forced to live in a place she hates, due to her estranged husband being in prison, Nona battles to keep her sons away from the local gang, the Hester Boys, while she battles against her growing feelings for her married pastor. What follows is an increasingly complex and heartfelt deep dive into the lethal combination of poverty, racial oppression, and violence. Thompson doesn't shy away from awful truths and it makes the real-life grit as daunting as the supernatural terrors. Bravo!